New details of PS3 magic wand emerge

By Ellie Gibson Published 9 December, 2009

Biometrics! Baseball bats! Maracas!

Sony Computer Entertainment has filed a patent for an "Expandable Control Device Via Hardware Attachment" - the PS3's new motion-controlled magic wand, in other words

According to the patent application one model for the wand consists of a handle, a connector and a removable attachment. Another model has an attachment which "provides additional communication capabilities".

Examples given for use of the wand include flying virtual kites, karate fighting and sword fighting. The light-up ping pong ball is said to be able to provide feedback - "such as being when the player is "hit," to indicate the amount of life left, to flag when the controller is occluded from view of the camera, etc."

The application also suggests the controller may feature a battery which can be removed. You'll be able to use an alternative power source while it's recharging. Another model works like the DualShock 3 - you connect a USB cable to charge the battery while it's still attached to the controller.

Looks like there will be an attachment which can store data files and transfer them between the controller and the PS3. "The files can be used to identify a specific user, to configure the controller or the base system, to load a game, to add features to existing games, etc.," reads the patent.

"For example, one file is a game that is loaded to the base station for playing, another file contains karaoke songs that can be used in a sing-along game, another file contains new player rosters and statistics for an update to a sports game, etc."

The application also suggests you'll be able to store information such as your preferred game settings before you go round your mate's house. "The player can then use the attachment in a different gaming system to play with other players using the configuration obtained from the original gaming system."

Other add-ons mentioned in the filing include a baseball bat attachment which "includes lights along its length that can be used for interactivity purpose, such as indicating the strength of the swing or the location where the imaginary baseball hits the baseball bat attachment during a swing".

Then there's an attachment containing beads which rattle when the controller is shaken, "thus making the controller operate as maracas or as a child's rattle". Another one features a microphone for "karaoke or voice-command entry". In one model the microphone is directional and "attenuates or completely eliminates sounds coming from preconfigured directions".

Perhaps most interesting is the biometic add-on. One model for the controller "includes a thumb reader used to validate the identity of the person holding the controller by analysing the biometric data provided by the attachment". This data can be used to disable the controller or PS3 if an unauthorised user tries to have a go.

The biometric data could also be useful when it comes to save games. "For example, a game in the base station can be restarted at a point where the player last stopped playing the game," reads the filing.

All very exciting. Here's hoping the PS3 magic wand is still on track for that spring 2010 release.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MORZTAN #1 2 years ago

    Will be interesting to see if ths will be worth buying alongside Natal.

  • Red_Bool #2 2 years ago

    PS-Twii?
    (sorry)

  • Beano #3 2 years ago

    EG, Patents doesn't mean actual products.
    Edited by Beano at 09/12/09 @ 09:05

  • Beano #4 2 years ago

    "Will be interesting to see if ths will be worth buying alongside Natal. "

    No, Natal will not be worth buying ? ;)

  • JohnnyWashnGo #5 2 years ago

    Something about these new control system screams gimmick to me and that means a few people will buy them and the rest will not bother.

    Hypothetically, if only 1 out of 10 people who own a PS3 actually purchase the wand device then publishers would be mad to release games that are only controlled using the wand. Why artificially restrict sales by requiring a control device that most people don't have?

    Because of that, games that are released with wand only controls will end up being as gimmicky as the device itself. Any game that is targeting the PS3 userbase as a whole will probably give the option for both control systems, making the purchase of a wand device pointless.

    The only way that these things work, if they ever do, is if the console is bundled with them from the beginning, thereby ensuring that everybody with the console have the control device. The Wii is a great example of this. The only reason people use the Wii remote is because, out of the box, you have no other choice.

    How many people have bought the PS3 EyeToy thingy? Not many. I imagine that the wand will see similar levels of sales to be honest. Most gamers will be thinking that the DS3 is perfectly usable as a control system. Sony will need to pay some serious money in order to get a great game released for the PS3 that benefits from the wand device and therefore encourages people to but it.

    I remain unconvinced.

  • DrDamn #6 2 years ago

    @JohnnyWashnGo
    "How many people have bought the PS3 EyeToy thingy? ... I imagine that the wand will see similar levels of sales to be honest."

    No shit Sherlock ... you know a wand requires an PS3Eye yes?

  • wizlon #7 2 years ago

    Then there's an attachment containing beads which rattle when the controller is shaken, "thus making the controller operate as maracas or as a child's rattle".... please give us a properly working Samba De Amigo!!

  • TheComedian #8 2 years ago

    I'm personally not excited about this. It's a much safer bet than Natal, for sure, but it seems to just be jumping on the Wii bandwagon. Natal has much much more potential to suck ass, but also far more potential to be the definitive motion-sensing controller.

    I suppose either way, it will fully depend on software as to whether these controls are going to be worhtless or not.

  • el_pollo_diablo #9 2 years ago

    I still have a feeling that this (and it's 360 equivalent) might be looking to romance a market that simply doesn't exist.

  • DrDamn #10 2 years ago

    Oh sheesh - well done with the negative comments. Johnny says the wand will sell to similar numbers of customers as the eye. That is obvious as every wand customer needs an Eye. Fact not opinion - stick your toys back in your pram.

  • DrDamn #11 2 years ago

    I thought the most interesting bit about the patents - taking into account the important point made by Beano above - was that there seemed to be a faceplate system for the control panel. I.e. a wand can have a set of buttons, a d-pad, an analog stick or even a dial - with the implication they are swap in and outable.

  • smirny #12 2 years ago

    there's a lot of 'attachments' mentioned there... that's potencially a lot of things to buy even after you've bought the wand itself...

  • DrDamn #13 2 years ago

    @Smirny
    See Beano's first comment above. With patents there is a large amount of ass/base covering. If it's possible then patent it just in case. The number of these seeing the light of day will be much lower.

  • r_simsini #14 2 years ago

    Nowhere near as interesting as Natal. Therefore no sale.

  • FogHeart #15 2 years ago

    "Any game that is targeting the PS3 userbase as a whole will probably give the option for both control systems, making the purchase of a wand device pointless."

    Because using the gamepad is just as good as using a wand? No. It won't be. When Resi 5 is re-released with support for wand, we can aim by pointing instead of using twin stick, and make a direct comparison. It's the same for any FPS coming out for the PS3 - I'd love to play a Killzone 3 or a Resistance 3 using the controls for the wand. Games like The Conduit and COD Reflex have shown where games control on the PS3 can go.

    And now someone answers by damning the Wii's graphical/processor prowess and utterly misses the point....

  • Beano #16 2 years ago

    The Wii is just two gamecubes ducktaped together !1!!

    Sorry but you asked :)

  • callum9999 #17 2 years ago

    That Resident Evil video did look good, but having to use both the regular controller and the wand at the same time might be a bit awkward compared to the controller alone - we'll have to wait and see I guess.

  • Cherub007 #18 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett

    I don't mean to be rude, as I often enjoy your posts, but I don't quite get what you're saying here. Are you saying EG, a website which we all, I assume, visit on a daily basis expecting daily updates on the gaming world, should just ignore the patent for a major piece of gaming technology? As a story it's pretty straightforward, simply quoting the submitted legal government documentation and summarising. It makes no judgements and takes no critical position other than a mildy provocative pay-off line about the release date. What's to dislike?! What's to mock?! Admittedly your comment wasn't as odd as Beano's, who has made the commenting equivalent of the sound of one hand clapping.

  • davisorle #19 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • man.the.king #20 2 years ago

    @r_simsini

    "Nowhere near as interesting as Natal"

    You mean you only own a 360? :)

  • r_simsini #21 2 years ago

    I own both. The Xbox 360 gets used, while the PS3 gathers dust.

  • man.the.king #22 2 years ago

    @r_simsini

    "I own both. The Xbox 360 gets used, while the PS3 gathers dust."

    Gathers dust. How cliched. I own both as well, and a Wii in addition, but I play games on both because, you see, I give both an honest shot, not just give any one console a bias-riddled stony stare.

    All in all, though, I have to say, my PS3 gets used much more, while, to use a quote which fanboys of all "faiths" seems to use often, my 360 usually "gathers dust".
    Edited by man.the.king at 10/12/09 @ 17:00

  • Balfa #23 2 years ago

    All that saving-player-prefs-and-bringing-it-to-a-mate's-house thing was promoted heavily by nintendo before the launch of the N64, which could do the same thing with the memory card being connected to the controller. Even the PS1 could've do it, although Sony never made a big deal out of it.

    I thought it sounded really useful at the time but, unfortunately, it seems developers weren't keen on implementing it :/

    I hope this time around they do, although at this stage, I'd honestly prefer storing prefs online on servers hosted by Sony, and logging into your PSN account as a guest on your mate's PS3, while he's still logged in as the master user, or whatever. If you could use your controller (or data on a memory card attached to your mate's controller) as a key that automatically logged you into PSN and made all your prefs and savegames available wherever you played, that'd be the best of both worlds.

    Playing Rockband with Balfa(1) on guitar, Balfa(2) on drums, Balfa(3) on vocals and Balfa(4) on bass is kinda sad.
    Edited by Balfa at 10/12/09 @ 18:53